The Golden Chord

About the Author: Ivy Hansdak works as a senior lecturer in English in New Delhi. She received an M.Phil in English from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As a poet, Hansdak has been influenced by English poetry as well as the alliterative and onomatopoeic folksongs of her mother tongue, Santali.

Teaser:

Ode to Delhi

In the acrid fumes of your traffic jams; In the sweltering heat of your summers; In the filth of your air-conditioned vapors; We sleep and smile, We dream and drift on.

In the clutching touches of beggars’ hands; In the clanging sounds of auto rickshaw horns; In the stench of sewers overflowing on roads; We sing and dance, We shrug and move on.

In the glitter of your neon lights and malls; In the geometric shapes of your flyovers; In the fleet of cars on your smooth highways; We wink and wave, We bow and emasculate.